Better Backlog Management with the Rock Crusher

About This Site

LinkedIn founder Ried Hoffman once said, “…if you are not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late.” This early launch is an example of us drinking our own champagne because the Rock Crusher is about enabling fast learning cycles. What we learn from this pre-launch will influence the “rocks” we have in our own backlog for growing and improving this site.

What is the Rock Crusher?

The Rock Crusher is a model for flow-based backlog management that returns the backlog to its original intended purpose as a tool for active value management rather than merely serving as a passive requirements reservoir of coding work.

The Rock Crusher addresses several challenges and gaps in agile backlog management frameworks such as:

  • the overwhelming expectations placed on the classic Product Owner role,
  • the lack of guiding patterns for learning what is valuable and for discarding less valuable work,
  • how the backlog can break the value stream, impede flow, and subsequently increase lead times and reduce learning cycles.
  • obscuring the “big picture” view of the full value creation process, leading to local suboptimizations.
  • the hidden and undervalued contribution of the business analysis.

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